Styrelseakademien, established in 1991, is an independent non-profit association that has become Sweden’s leading platform for the professional development of owners, board members, and corporate executives.
With over 8,000 members, Styrelseakademien is the second-largest board institute in Europe, fostering a nationwide network through its 16 local branches across 30 locations, from Luleå in the north to Malmö in the south.
Styrelseakademien’s education programs are designed to meet the highest standards, with accredited instructors and quality-assured educational materials. Their services aim to professionalize board work, and include training programs, board and CEO evaluations, as well as various other quality-assured offerings.
To step up their Certification, they connected with TRUE to offer participants secure and verifiable certificates in English and Swedish. Initially, the goal was to enhance security and trust of their trainings, while minimising the manual workload. But, within a few months of issuing these new digital certificates, Styrelseakademin discovered that participants who normally would not share certificates on social media, started doing so.
These new digital certificates are shareable with a click of a button, and most individuals are much more comfortable showcasing their achievement by a simple click, than uploading a photo or a pdf.
By talking to participants about the possibilities gained from the positive attention, Styrleseakademien got even more participants to share their experience. In fact, more than 50% now do so.
Many participants has already been approached by companies to sit on a board, or take a non executive role in a company as a result from showcasing and sharing the certificates on LinkedIn. Which of course is the best possible outcome and the whole point with taking the course in the first place.
Besides the personal gain for those who showcase their achievement, Styrelseakademien has seen an increased in web-traffic and positive attention around their trainings. When alumni post their certificates, and share stories about their experience, friends of those participant’s also reached out to attend courses.
Since launching the new digital certificates with TRUE in 2021, they have created new organic traffic worth well over 25,000 USD (as of early 2023). And traffic continue to increase:
On an international level, Styrelseakademien has been instrumental in shaping Swedish board practices and corporate governance.
Since 2012, they have represented Sweden in ecoDa – the European Confederation of Directors’ Associations. ecoDa, an umbrella organisation for 21 European board institutes, advocates for European board members through opinion formation and lobbying efforts.
Styrelseakademien’s diverse range of activities includes certification programs, board education, seminars, social media engagement, board events such as “Guldklubban” and “Stora Styrelsedagen,” as well as playing an active role in opinion formation and setting norms for good board practices.
With a vision to secure Sweden’s future as an exceptional entrepreneurial nation, board by board, and member by member, Styrelseakademien strives to elevate the competence level within Swedish boards. Through education, certification, networking, activities, services, and products, they aim to enhance the skills and knowledge of board members across the country.
“StyrelseAkademien is a ‘best-in-class’ typ of client. We have a great dialog and learn from them, says Patrik Slettman, CEO of TRUE. -As soon as they realised the value of sharing Certificates online, they talked with participant’s about the positives, and quickly multiplied the numbers. This simple act have been beneficial for their entire organisation, as well as those who attend the courses. Their brand is more known and talked about on the Swedish market today. And they deserve it. They run quality programs.”